Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wired has a collection of rumors about the next iPhone, which is rumored to be announced in June and released in July. It includes sources, and ranking of likelihood. One rumor getting some traction is that AT&T's upgrades indicate a major improvement in iPhone's hardware.

7 comments:

If the rumors come through on the next iPhone -- more memory, faster processor, faster access, variable rates, better camera, video, etc. -- I just think it will extend its current dominance to a crushing degree.

AT&T have to wait for Sprint's grace period to end, but engadget had a quick article saying that AT&T were going to jump on the band wagon as soon as possible (i.e next year).

There is a lot that many would consider attractive about the Palm Pre. Physically speaking, there is a slide out (physical) keyboard, which many consider a plus. There is the 3.5" headphone jacks (so you don't have to buy proprietary headphones), the HVGA touch screen is comparable to the iPhone's. Technically speaking there is the Integrated IM, SMS, and MMS, the Built-in GPS, three kinds of sensors (Ambient light, accelerometer, and proximity), the Wi-Fi (802.11b/g with WPA, WPA2, 801.1x authentication) the Bluetooth® (2.1 + EDR with A2DP), the "touchstone" compatibility (i.e. wirelessly charge the phone), the 3MP camera, etc. In the software department, WebOs does true multitasking, integrates seamlessly with iTunes, ... oh hum. Why not just go check it out.

It takes a lot to make Apple stand up and notice, and far more to make them say something - but Apple has had a few things to say that seem directly pointed at the Pre.

The GUI looks easily as slick as an iPhone - and has this bonus, the SDK will be supplied for free, so there will be lots of free apps. It looks, so far, to be a very decent product. Palm did pretty much own the handheld computer market for pretty near a decade, and they have hired a lot of the key Apple people who brought us the iPhone.

There have been a lot of phones that have been compared to the iPhone, but the Pre may be the first that I've seen that isn't just a knock-off, but has serious and thoughtful innovations that rival the iPhone.

As a long time Palm OS user I was looking forward to the Pre, but the initial word on the new OS was that the old apps wouldn't work with it. Now it seems that they will and that opens it up to me again, though I'd have to switch providers.